How to know when youtve arrived

f, s I wnrre. wE ARE tust a few days into the New Year, but I am pleased to say la,I already have had some very optimistic conversations. I had a number of reports of being busy between Christmas and New Year, and into the first week of 201 l. So here's hopingl I think we are long overdue for real success.

You remember, I am sure, the call from the back of the car (about five minutes after leaving the house for an eight-hour drive) of "Are we there yet?" So I was thinking about "What is success and how do we know when we have arrived?" As I read about the two winning tickets in the $330-million-plus mega lotto, I was thinking what it must be like to win even $10 million and know you've arrived. Like you, I'm sure, I have planned how I would spend that money many times over the last 40 years-and, of course, have never won a dime. But while we all don't measure our success by how much money we have, it's been a question I have asked myself over many years: what would it take for me to feel successful monetarily and non-monetarily? And what I have found is that the goalpost continues to move every year. What seemed real wealth a few years ago doesn't seem that much today-particularly considering the price to accumulate it.

I must admit, I have always struggled to define what success means to me. I grew up in humble beginnings. For my parents, success was measured in keeping a job, having food on the table, getting our first TV (saving me the need to push up against my neighbors' windows watching without sound their television), going for a week's vacation to the coast in England, and getting our first carwhat a day that was! Success for them was saving a little for the rainy day and, even if it came and they didn't have enough, making sure my brother and I felt like we had a good life.

Times have changed, and I suspect many of us want a better life than our parents had. For many years, for me it was all about how I could grow my salary, along with all the trappings of perks, cars and promotions. It was all about getting more. It took a while for me to figure it out, but that just didn't make me happy. I did it because I had to-or thought I had to. But what I have learned over the years is that pursuing your passion is what really makes you feel happy and successful, even if the financial rewards are not there. Enjoying what you do in life can make doing even unpleasant tasks bearable. But often you have to go through the worst to understand that there needs to be something better in your life.

Today flexibility and creativity are highly regarded as keys to success and well being. Who would have thought that a few years ago? How many people have had to reinvent themselves and their careers through this downturn? I bet that if they ended up following their passions, they are now in a much better place. Maybe they're not earning as much, but they're happy to do what makes them happy.

My parents used to tell me all the time, "Be grateful for what you have." Sometimes it is easy to take people and things for granted. I hope I have matured enough to recognize what I have and to be able to do the things in life I enjoy.

As the industry turns around, and it will, let's not go back to 2OO4-5 when nothing was ever enough. Let's build our businesses on sound principles, be satisfied with new successes. and understand that always wanting more contributed to what we have gone through for the past four years. Times change, as do people, and so does the definition of what makes us feel successful as companies and individuals.

Lots of shows and events coming over the next six weeks. I hope to see you out there.

Alan Oakes. Publisher aioakes@aol.com